July 18, 2014

Subaru Rally Team USA is King of the Hill

Rally

Subaru Rally Team USA (SRT USA) driver David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew continue their dominance this year in the Rally America National Championship series with a record-breaking run at the Subaru Mt. Washington Hillclimb. Their final run of 6 minutes, 09.09 seconds on Sunday, June 29, broke David’s record from 2011 by more than 2 seconds, giving them the title “King of the Hill.”

Following their teammates, driver Travis Pastrana and co-driver Chrissie Beavis were only 3 seconds behind. Travis previously broke the record in 2010 in a Subaru WRX STI.

Adding to Hillclimb History

The Mt. Washington Hillclimb, aka Climb to the Clouds, was first run in 1904 and is one of the oldest motorsports events in the United States.

This year’s entry list of 75 was the largest in the history of the race, with more than 60 cars starting the race the first day.

New this year is that this event was included on the Rally America National Championship schedule.Read more.

Rallycross

Following Bucky Lasek’s silver-medal finish at X Games Austin, the team was in high spirits. The next stop on June 21-22 was a rallycross debut in Washington, D.C. A temporary course was set up outside RFK Stadium.

Smooth practice sessions for SRT USA gave the #11 WRX STI of Sverre Isachsen and the #81 WRX STI of Bucky the fastest times. The .49-mile course, with 10 turns and a table jump, seemed to agree with both drivers.

The teammates battled side by side in heat races, and, for the first time this year, both the #11 and #81 made the final event. Sverre qualified through his heat race, and Bucky grabbed a spot through the Last Chance Qualifying heat.

The event final was 11 cars deep, and the course didn’t offer many places to find time or pass other cars. At the race start, Sverre jumped the lights, and he held himself back to prevent being penalized. As a result, he started the race in last place, and finished in 10th place. Bucky in #81 was in the third row at the green flag. He made a good start off the line and maintained 7th position until he limped to the end of the race on a punctured tire, retiring in 11th place.

The Best Fans Around

Although not the results the team had hoped for, it was a great event for witnessing the passion for Subaru, the drivers, and the teams.

Subaru Motorsports App

This app debuts an interactive 360-degree video playback capability that provides users a virtual racing experience like no other.

"To our knowledge we are the first brand in the world to launch an app with this amazing video capability for motorsports use," stated Rob Weir, Subaru motorsports marketing manager. "It's certainly a game-changer in motorsports media and we're excited to be leading the way."

The app features shareable Subaru Motorsports images, videos, team updates, and racing schedules, and notifies users about local races and team events in their area. The Subaru “Launch Control” video series also is included in the app.